Saturday, February 14, 2015

A surprise from Japan, a new Dissidia Final Fantasy game is in the works, but this time it will arrive in arcades. This trailer's footage is all gameplay-- no CG, and the game will feature 3-on-3 battles. Also of note is that this chapter in the Dissidia Final Fantasy series is a total reboot of the franchise. A press conference with more details will occur on April 10 of this year.

The last time I stood on the SPC Soapbox it was around E3 time last year. I'm making up for lost time with three new subjects that will probably show that I have no idea what I'm talking about. Hopefully not, though! This Soapbox segment's topics deal with the recent RockPaperShotgun interview with subject Peter Molyneux, Nintendo's YouTube strategy and how it is ticking off users, and what I consider to be one of the greatest deals in video games today. Let's get to the topics!

- RockPaperShotgun's interview with Peter Molyneux

"It's not a lie if you believe it." I've seen this excuse from Peter Molyneux apologists used in a totally un-ironic manner. The difference between a big publisher or developer promising the moon with its new game and misleading people who have a direct tie to the project is because the latter helped fund your desired game. Misinforming your backers is a truly reprehensible thing to do, and it's something that Peter Molyneux knowingly did yet has an ego so large that he wouldn't admit to doing it.

Instead, in the interview with RockPaperShotgun, Molyneux pussyfooted around John Walker's questions, using mental gymnastics to avoid admitting that he mislead backers and even going so far to repeatedly state that he doesn't think he lies, despite mounting evidence from Walker's line of questioning.

Regarding the harshness of the interview, I am of the position that in an industry where coddling and being buddy-buddy with developers and publishers is a common sight to see, it was mighty refreshing to see an interviewer find their courage and take someone who deserved it to task-- a person with a history of blatant falsehoods hiding behind an "I don't think I lie" defense, despite all of the evidence showing the opposite.

There seems to be a cultural confusion between where I live, the United States, and where John Walker's investigative journalism come from, the U.K. In the U.K. it is a very common occurrence to see journalists put their subjects through the wringer when they screw up in a public fashion. In that sense, it wasn't anything out of the ordinary for the U.K. line of journalism. Obviously it was harsh in an American sense where we have "hard-hitting" journalists like Geoff Keighley asking questions like, "How awesome is your game?" with a response from the developer being, "So awesome." Yes, that was a nod to a Penny Arcade comic of all things.

Again, it was a breath of fresh air to see a video game journalist actually ask the tough questions and not let their subject weasel out of them with mental gymnastics and weak follow-up questions. It is for these reasons that I can't help but applaud John Walker for the interview he did with Peter Molyneux. It was a long time coming, and it was so worth waiting for to see someone take on Mr. Molyneux and his web of falsehoods.

- Nintendo's program for YouTube users

There has been a lot of whining over Nintendo's YouTube policy and not wanting its games to be shown on YouTube without getting a cut of YouTuber's profits. YouTuber's find Nintendo's approach greedy and a stab in the back to its fans. I liken what YouTubers are doing to uploading a full Hollywood movie on YouTube with the only change being commentary over it. These are the same people complaining about not being able to get all of the revenue from fully showing Nintendo video games that happily receive free stuff from the company in the form of systems and games. It's biting the hand that feeds them in a sense, and it comes off as highly greedy and selfish, ironically the same thing these YouTubers are claiming Nintendo to be.

There is no question that I find most YouTube gaming personalities abhorrently obnoxious. Seriously, how many rape jokes, angry, raging gamers, and loud voices does an industry need that we don't already have enough of? However, that said, despite liking the idea of Nintendo sticking it to these people who like to make money off Nintendo's games, it's not done in a way that makes logical sense. Nintendo has a meager amount of games that can have videos based off of, and the cut for these videos is a little too much that Nintendo takes. It makes the idea of making videos of Nintendo content very unappealing, which limits the amount of content shown. It's a lose-lose for Nintendo, and until the company figures out how to not neglect its fans in this regard, it will continue to fight a losing battle.

- One of the greatest deals in gaming

Sony may have a current-gen system that is at this time unappealing to me. However, the company also has one of the greatest deals in gaming, and that is none other than PlayStation Plus. With this subscription initiative, not only can you back up your saves to Sony's cloud, but each month you get a nice sampling of some of the content Sony platforms (the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita) receive through free games.

One such game this month was Kick & Fennick, a game I reviewed earlier this month, and it is a 2D platformer with an ingenious mechanic involving a gun that has Kick shooting the weapon to have the recoil of it launch him to higher locations, serving as the game's jump mechanic. It's the type of game that many might have overlooked without it being a free game this month for PlayStation Plus subscribers.

Of course, not only are new indie games listed each month for PlayStation Plus subscribers, but so are digital versions of fully-fledged retail titles. It's amazing that subscribers can get and download $20, $30, $40, and on releases for free-- well, not technically for free, but free with a PS+ subscription. You get to keep these games as long as you have a subscription. It's all these reasons why PlayStation Plus is a must have for any PlayStation console owner. It's truly a fantastic steal of a deal.

Friday, February 13, 2015

Gaming is heading towards digital more and more as each year passes by. It's fantastic that developers are able to create mid-tier games that last generation were all but endangered in the retail space. Now, we have genres that wouldn't fit into the AAA-line of thinking that this industry continues to lean towards readily available on many digital marketplaces. The titles that I'm most excited for this year are but some of the incredibly hype-worthy games coming from developers both small and large.

I passionately encourage you to please recommend to me other digital games that are coming out that I may not even know about. It would be with great thanks from me for you guys to do that. Also, after you're done reading my picks, let's chat about digital games in the comments section!

5) '90s Arcade Racer - Developed by Antonis Pelekanos and Nicalis

A lot of the games on this list are inspired by retro classics. This next indie title, '90s Arcade Racer is one that can thank Daytona USA for its inspiration. I have been wanting a modern racer that is less simulation and more about crazy drifts for the longest time. It's gotten so bad for me that I was honest to goodness willing to pull the proverbial trigger on Ridge Racer... for the Vita. Let that sink in how deep my desperation goes. However, '90s Arcade Racer is a game that seems to scratch my itch for thrills, chills, and drifting goodness. Of course, since the game is being published by Nicalis, we will probably have to wait until 2020 to see the game released. Perhaps I'm being hard on Nicalis, but the publisher does not have a good "track" record on releasing games in a timely fashion. Still, I'm sure the wait will be definitely worth it!

4) Midora - Developed by Epic Minds

Midora has an art style highly reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, and in addition to the art, the gameplay is similar to the legendary franchise its inspired by. Currently, the team at Epic Minds is planning 12 unique dungeons full of insane traps, enemies, and obstacles. Furthermore, we're bound to get a high number of secondary items aside from Midora's main means to attack to open up the possibilities for different combat strategies and puzzle concepts. Midora may seem too heavily inspired by The Minish Cap, but I think that is what draws me to this game. It's an ode to 16-bit Zelda, and despite not being overly innovative, I still feel the need to play this game.

3) Mekazoo - Developed by The Good Mood Creators

If you see a theme on my five selections for downloadable games that I have the most excitement for, it's probably that all of the games here are in genres that are my favorites or games inspired by favorite franchises and games of mine. Mekazoo is a 2.5D platformer which has you switching between one of a handful of different animals, such as an armadillo, a frog, and a kangaroo, and platforming with great acrobatics through multiple tiered levels. It's an exciting prospect and the trailer for the game shows this action beautifully. With a release period for late this year, I cannot wait to see more footage and imagination shown from The Good Mood Creators and their greatly interesting game.

2) Mighty No. 9 - Developed by Comcept

A project led by the driving force behind the Mega Man series, Keiji Inafune, Mighty No. 9 definitely has its roots greatly inspired by the Blue Bomber's games. With a formula just like the Mega Man games, eight bosses that strike a resemblance to Robot Masters, and similar gameplay, Mighty No. 9 might as well be considered an all-new Mega Man game. While the Kickstarter campaign is a bit dubious in how much money it continually wants and how the mock-up for the project is nothing close to what the actual work-in-progress looks like, I am still drooling over the prospect of playing a Mega Man-like game from the man most closely tied to the franchise.

1) A Hat in Time - Developed by Gears for Breakfast

A Hat in Time satiates my hunger and thirst for a traditional 3D collect-a-thon style platformer akin to classic games like Super Mario 64 and my favorite of the bunch, Banjo-Kazooie. The game is set to feature fully explorable worlds; the ability to battle enemies and bosses with either Hat Kid's umbrella or an ode to Mario, a jump to the noggin; collectibles aplenty like badges that can be equipped to change the player's play style; cooperative gameplay; and an art style similar to what was seen in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. A Hat in Time is such an exciting project to me, someone who is a huge fan of Nintendo 64 era 3D platformers, and I am chomping at the bit to see this game released to the public.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

It's time for a new volume in Best Levels in Gaming History! What's special about this volume, the thirteenth one, is that it has a special theme this go around. Since us North Americans are in the middle of a brutal winter full of snow, sleet, ice, and frigid temperatures, I figured it would be a great opportunity to talk about some of my favorite winter-themed levels. From Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze to Metroid Prime, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 to Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, this volume of lovable levels is sure to warm your heart despite the cold temps!

If you missed a past volume of Best Levels in Gaming History, check out the following links:

We begin this "winterized for your protection" edition of the Best Levels in Gaming History with a level from one of my favorite 2D platformers of all time, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze for the Wii U. The Kongs fought, rolled, slammed, and ran their way through five islands to finally reach their home. Unfortunately, Donkey Kong Island suffered the worst of Lord Frederick's arctic army. The whole island is frozen solid and has been turned into a winter wasteland. Bad for the Kongs, but good for players, as these levels are some of the best in the game.

There are eight main levels in this sixth and final island in Tropical Freeze, and each represents one world from the game's predecessor, Donkey Kong Country Returns on Wii and Nintendo 3DS. There are plenty of tantalizing picks for excellent levels in Tropical Freeze, but the one I'm choosing for this winter wonderland edition is 6-6 Cliffside Slide.

The level uses a signature silhouette look, having all characters, enemies, items, and the platforms all stand on have silhouettes contrasting against a silvery white background. The platforms in this level slide down the cliff side as part of a massive avalanche. It's up to the Kongs to use perfect precision to leap up the ascending, moving, sometimes undulating platforms in the severe snowstorm to survive.

Cliffside Slide is an absolutely astonishing level to play, pumping the player's adrenaline to fantastic heights as they perform death-defying leaps, blast out of barrels, and time their movements to survive this arctic obstacle course.

Phendrana Drifts - Metroid Prime (GCN)

We move from one Retro Studios-developed game to another with Metroid Prime. After trudging along in the intense heat of Magmoor Caverns, Samus Aran finds herself in a true winter wonderland, Phendrana Drifts. With the absolutely chill music, cool color pallet, frigid waters, and grand architecture, the Phendrana Drifts are a beautiful place to travel through and unbelievably fun to play in.

The Drifts are home to three main parts. One is home to since abandoned Chozo village and temples, as well an abundance of flooded areas. Opposite to this is a research facility operated by the Space Pirates, home to imprisoned Metroids due to their vulnerability to the cold temperatures of the area. Finally, at the edge of Phendrana are a series of mostly underwater chambers and caverns where the Gravity Suit greatly comes into play.

Phendrana Drifts is definitely a nice change of pace from being inside the molten innards of the Magmoor Caverns and its intensely red aesthetic. It's a breath of fresh air entering the wide open expanses of the Phendrana Shorelines, housing two village entrances on either side of the area and venturing deep into the aquatic blue whilst exploring Phendrana's Edge. It's my favorite area from one of my favorite games of all time in a game that has plenty of excellently crafted areas.

Ice Cap Zone - Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (GEN)

Without question what I consider the coolest (or is it coldest?) zone within the excellent Sonic the Hedgehog 3, the Ice Cap Zone features a variety of gameplay mechanics and obstacles. It all begins with a blistering ride down a snow-capped peak via a snowboard, speeding past trees and gathering rings.

The two acts contain platforming and speedy action between outside sections filled with loops and indoor caverns with switches frozen inside ice cubes, pillars that strike down from the ceiling with the goal of crushing an unassuming hedgehog, slippery slopes, platforms that move upward based on Sonic's momentum, and enemies like robotic penguins and spheres surrounded by spiked orbs. Act 2 possesses two halves to it. There is the upper outdoor path, which like most Sonic games, requires a great deal of skill to remain on it, and there is the lower indoor cavernous portion, which introduces aquatic elements into the fold.

It's a zone that has a lot of variety to it in regards to obstacles, hazards, and visual aesthetics. It doesn't hurt that the zone also features some of my favorite music within the game, as heard here for Act 1 and here for Act 2.

The Ice Cap Zone was particularly special to me because back in the days before available Internet, my brother and I, like many players of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, got stuck near the end of Carnival Night Zone Act 2. This was because of the infamous red-and-white barrel of doom, which we never learned how to correctly get past until many, many years later. Having Tails continually jump on the barrel with the right timing to allow Sonic to sneak through a gap to continue the level wasn't the correct way to get past the barrel, nor did it work with any kind of regularity, but through doing so, reaching the Ice Cap Zone was an awesome reward. Since it happened so rarely for us as children, it just made the zone following Carnival Night to be that much more special to us.

Snowy Mountain - Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (PS2)

Located high above the Volcanic Crater, Jak and Daxter need to take a gondola up to the Snowy Mountain, a location in Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy that is home to an amalgamation of challenges, enemies, and obstacles.

Trekking through the Snowy Mountain is quite a feat, as there is a canyon full of chasms that require precision platforming to overcome, icy bridges that don't offer much in the way of traction for Jak's feet, and many difficult platforming perils to persevere over to get all ten Power Cells hidden around the mountainous area.

The Lurkers loafing about the Snowy Mountain area as well as the ones in battering ram operations to retrieve Precursor technology frozen inside large glaciers make for an uninviting place. A cavern that is accessed through carefully maneuvering over a series of slippery platforms finds itself infested with small Lurker forces while a fortress full of the Lurker horde sits on the opposite side of a grand canyon.

Snowy Mountain pits players in a battle against the elements, the Lurkers, and the problematic platforming for those not ready for the challenge. It's an area that features a wide array of platforming challenges and unique locations, making it one of my favorite areas within Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy.

Frosty Village - Diddy Kong Racing (N64)

Wrapping this wintry volume of Best Levels in Gaming History up, Diddy Kong Racing's ultimate track in Snowflake Mountain is Frosty Village. Despite its name, most of the track take places in the outskirts of the titular village.

Racers start by taking a wide right curve and passing through a stone archway with three openings on it. Down a lengthy slope leads to a triplet of houses, the actual village part of the race. A quick curve leads into a twisted tunnel full of swift turns eventually making way for a large outdoor area of track. Here, one can stay on the wide road, or they can opt to go off-road into the snow and drive over a trio of boost pads (zippers) for a nice shortcut.

This expansive area with colossal-sized pillars set on the sides of the road leads to a part of track with water on the right side. If one is driving a hovercraft or piloting a plane, they can pass through the waterfall to access a clever shortcut. Otherwise, it's the outside path that must be taken, following the road where it makes its right turn and leads back to the starting line for the next lap.

Frosty Village has one of the most arduous Silver Coin Challenges in Diddy Kong Racing. These challenges require the player to collect eight silver coins sprinkled in oftentimes tricky locations and come in first place to successfully complete them. This meant my younger self spent a lot of time on this snowy circuit. Yet after all my accumulated laps and times with Frosty Village, I still enjoy racing on the track, loving every twist, every turn, every shortcut, and enjoying the ambiance all at once. Racing this track during Christmastime is a memory that I will always cherish.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Sometimes I ponder life's questions. For instance, is the word "ninja" in the UK still considered taboo? Does that mean that this next game would have to be localized to "Hero Battle Heroes"? It's not as catchy.

Sometimes the most interesting games have the least interesting titles. Other times there are game names that don't do their games justice. Tom Create, a developer who in the past worked on the DSiWare GO Series, has a game that fits both categories with Ninja Battle Heroes. With a vanilla name that could be about pretty much anything involving ninjas, battles, and heroes, the actual product is a charming and challenging 2D side-scrolling platformer that uses the 3D effect of the Nintendo 3DS system very well.

Ninja Battle Heroes stars bipedal animals dressed up as ninjas in a Feudal-era Japan. Our hero is Saizo Kirigakure, a member of the fabled Beast Brigade, who returns home to find his fellow clanmates missing. They have been supposedly animal-napped by a Beast Brigade member turned traitorous. Saizo sharpens his blade, a katana that serves as his main mode of attack, leaps into battle, and progresses through over 20 unique levels to rescue his furry friends. Despite the total ridiculousness of small animals with big heads dressed up as ninjas, the dialogue of Ninja Battle Heroes rarely strays from the serious, delivering a fun if not ham-fisted, anime-esque narrative for players to experience through dialogue box character exchanges.

It's a battle of two fronts in Ninja Battle Heroes. There's the obvious main battleground where Saizo platforms and performs sword and shuriken attacks to enemies on the same dimensional plane as him. However, Ninja Battle Heroes cleverly utilizes the 3D effect of the Nintendo 3DS to have it where enemies also reside in the background. They can either launch projectiles at Saizo, which the player can dodge by jumping at the last possible moment, or the ones who battle with melee attacks will push forward from the background to where Saizo is. While the Y button is for attacks to enemies that are on the same plane as him, the X button is used to throw shurikens at foes on the background planes. It's a smart concept that is fully utilized to fantastic effect. Several boss encounters have the boss switch between Saizo's platforming plane and the background, where they launch attacks that cover both planes.

You picked the wrong night of the full moonto mess with Saizo Kirigakure!

By no means does this background and main ground gameplay require the Nintendo 3DS' 3D slider to be turned up, but it does make approximating the proximity of enemies in relation to Saizo a much easier task.

Each level in Ninja Battle Heroes, whether it's a platforming or boss level, has three optional challenges that can be completed. These range from beating a level within a certain time, getting a certain number of hits in one combo, defeating a number of enemies, among many others. Satisfying the conditions of these challenges unlocks secret skills, one of eight slots to equip said skills, or a healthy heaping of Spirit, which can be used not only as continues when Saizo loses all of his health, but they can also be used to enhance skills and Saizo's attributes.

Defeating enemies?Yeah, that's the Spirit!

As bosses are defeated and captured members of the Beast Brigade are rescued, each character that rejoins Saizo's side gives him a skill that can be used in the heat of battle by touching one of eight unlockable slots on the bottom screen. These range from restoring his health to elemental attacks that deal the most damage depending on their location. For instance, the Wind summon especially hurts enemies in the background, while the Ice summon damages airborne enemies the most. As stated, these can be strengthened with Spirit in between levels, and they are able to used by gathering Spirit within the levels themselves through holding down the Circle Pad.

Jinpachi Nezu can put foesinto a deep freeze.

While the majority of Ninja Battle Heroes does indeed play well, the game is not without a major fault that rears its nasty head into the picture late-game. Later levels fall into a trap of being a labyrinth of confusing platforms, a myriad of ways to go, with most of these routes leading to annoying dead ends. It says something about the levels in the second half of the game when signs displaying directional arrows were required by the developer to help out players with the absolutely horrid level design these later levels contain. It's a huge drop-off in level quality from what is seen at the beginning of the game.

Ninja Battle Heroes delivers onto players a pleasant presentation. Sprites are wholly 2D and animate wonderfully while levels themselves are made up of 3D polygons and parts. While the music in the game isn't bad per se-- it uses traditional Japanese instruments-- it is replayed so often that it can get exhausting. Essentially the same two themes, one for platforming levels and one for boss levels, are what players get throughout their gameplay experience with Ninja Battle Heroes.

For such a low cost of entry, Ninja Battle Heroes is of exceptional value. The amount of levels and the optional challenges that have players going through the levels in different ways make for a lot of longevity to this game. The interactivity between the foreground and the background is smartly used, and the gameplay is as sharp as Saizo's katana. The later levels do bring down the fun a bit, but overall, Ninja Battle Heroes is a wise investment for any action-platforming fan.

Monday, February 9, 2015

Our first review of this week is a game made by a new independent developer, Log Games. Their first effort is Puzzle Monkeys. While the game leaves a little to be desired, it does make me quite interested in the developer's next projects.

It's hip to be square.

A lot of independent developers seem to have a fixation on two game genres in particular: the platformer and the puzzle game. This is by no means a bad thing, as those two just so happen to be two of three favorite genres of mine. Log Games' freshman effort is a puzzle game highly reminiscent of Dr. Mario in the form of Puzzle Monkeys. For an affordable game with an MSRP of $2.99, you can do a lot worse than Puzzle Monkeys, but at the same time, you can do a lot better as well.

Puzzle Monkeys requires the player to line up three blocks of the same color either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally to score points. At the beginning of each game, there is a sprinkling of blocks with monkey faces on them, and the goal is to eliminate all of these through matching them with other similarly colored blocks. When this task is completed, the player moves onto the next level where even more monkey mug-coated blocks need to be destroyed. This process continues until the player reaches the tenth level which serves as a play-till-you-fail-type of experience, where monkey blocks continually push up from the bottom of the screen.

Massive combos feel as good as you'dexpect them to be. (Real good.)

The blocks that fall downward for the player to set on top of the positioned blocks below are 2 x 2 squares. These can be turned clockwise or counterclockwise in midair in order for the player to arrange the block to fall on similarly colored blocks to score points. Eliminating a monkey gives the player 75 points, but the ability to earn ten times that amount is possible, as long as you keep destroying a monkey block with each dropped square. This is how high scores are attained, and thankfully there are online leaderboards to compare your best scores with every other player of the game.

The bright colors can be a painon the eyes. (Literally.)

Puzzle Monkeys features two main modes which are appropriately titled Mode A and Mode B. The former has the gameplay features of a typical Tetris/Dr. Mario style game with blocks falling, the player needing to position them on top of other blocks, and matching three-of-a-kind to score points. Meanwhile, Mode B has a series of blocks moving horizontally across the top of the playing field. Tapping the red, blue, yellow, or green buttons on either side of the screen destroys the colored blocks of the same color within the horizontally scrolling blocks at the top. This causes the other blocks to fall onto the playing field, hopefully matching some colored blocks together to eliminate them and score points.

Mode B proves that you need more thaninnovation to have a deeply intriguing mode.

Each mode in Puzzle Monkeys features the option to set a starting speed and level for the player. On a purely aesthetic front, players can also select the background and music to play while they match monkeys and score points.

With just two modes in Puzzle Monkeys, repetition and tedium come quite quickly. Mode B isn't even that fun of a mode to begin with, despite being an interesting take on the puzzle formula. This means a player is left with Mode A, and one can only play that mode so much before Puzzle Monkeys just becomes too boring to regularly play. It further damages the game that even though there are online leaderboards to compare scores, there is no way to directly compete with players, as there is no multiplayer to speak of, as baffling as that is.

The presentation of Puzzle Monkeys does not offer much visual variety. If a player loves primary colors, then Puzzle Monkeys will definitely be a feast for their eyes. For everyone else, the bright set of four colors can get very painful to look at after extended periods of play. That said, the backgrounds and music within Puzzle Monkeys are just the opposite. The former is pleasing to look at while the latter sounds great and catchy.

For a first title released by the developer, Log Games' Puzzle Monkeys is serviceable enough for the cost of the game. However, a lack of interesting modes, no multiplayer to speak of, and a very basic presentation throws a monkey wrench into the fun. While Puzzle Monkeys is a competent start for Log Games, I only hope the developer's next title has a lot more depth to it.

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse is a sequel to the Nintendo DS' Kirby Canvas Curse, a game which just so happens to be one of my favorite games the system offered. This Wii U game delivers a glorious clay-mation style to it and multiplayer mayhem. Kirby and the Rainbow Curse releases on February 20 in North America.